Browns Statistics

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In an upstairs conference room at the Denver Broncos’ practice facility, John Elway rocked back and forth in his black leather seat and swiveled from side to side. Three days before his Broncos were to play for a spot in the Super Bowl, Elway was like a big kid in a darkened theater waiting for a double feature to light up the giant screen.

He owed his barely contained excitement to the fact that the conference championship games are blockbusters revolving around the NFL’s two best generational rivalries at quarterback, one in its winter and the other in its spring.

The Broncos’ Peyton Manning is sharing a marquee with the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady in the AFC. The NFC features Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) and Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers). It is a twin bill that thrills Elway, the Hall of Fame quarterback-turned-Broncos executive vice president for football operations.

He can appreciate how wondrous it is that the planets aligned to give football fans such a starry night. In his 16 seasons in the league, Elway squared off with his closest rival, Dan Marino, only three times (losing twice in the regular season but beating the Miami Dolphins on the way to a Super Bowl title in 1999). How cool, he said, that this will be the 15th meeting between teams led by Manning and Brady, and the third with a spot in the Super Bowl resting on the outcome. Wilson- and Kaepernick-led offenses will face off for the third time this season.

“I think it’s great for the NFL, with Peyton and Brady in the first and then the young guys in the next game, the up-and-comers that are really going to carry the league once Peyton and Tommy retire,” Elway said.

Manning and Brady are the league’s twin peaks, with careers built on the same bedrock of hard work mixed with obsessive attention to detail. Linked in the record books, they share a process-oriented approach rooted in the belief that the Super Bowl is a journey and not a destination. Neither is afraid to keep his teammates in line.

Receiver Wes Welker is well positioned to speak of both, having spent six seasons with New England before signing with Denver this season. The quarterbacks are similar, he said, “in just the way they go about their business and the way they study.”

He added: “And they just keep guys accountable and make sure everyone is doing their jobs, and when they’re not, letting them know when they’re not and staying on top of everybody.”

How do they go about their business? Brady stepped off the plane for the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., carrying a metal briefcase, an anchor in a sea of bobbing camcorder-wielding teammates. At home, after watching video of practice, Manning will often text his receivers to point out small corrections, like moving a foot to the left in a formation or running a route a yard more inside.

“Everything we do, we go over with a fine-tooth comb,” Broncos tight end Julius Thomas said. “It’s that kind of attention to detail that allows us to have the kind of season we’ve had.”

Brady’s first NFL start came against Manning’s Indianapolis Colts in the third week of the 2001 season. Brady passed for 168 yards while Manning threw three interceptions in the Patriots’ 44-13 victory. In games featuring their teams, Brady holds a 10-4 edge.

Both are like players taking turns trying to beat each other’s score in a video game. Each feels pressure to play well because the other is so good.

Asked about Manning last week, Brady said: “He’s a great player; they’ve got a great team and one of the best offenses in history. I think what that means for us is we better be ready to score some points. ... What that means for our offense is we have to be able to match it.”

Brady, 36, has won by managing the offense and by commanding it — whatever it takes. Since 2001, he has appeared in eight conference championships and five Super Bowls, winning three. Manning, with one victory in two Super Bowl trips, praised Brady’s consistency.

“There are many, many well-deserved accolades and adjectives to describe the way he’s played quarterback and the way he’s competed, but that’s one that’s really impressive to me,” Manning said. “I feel like he’s been a better player each year than he was the year before, and that, to me, speaks to his work ethic in the offseason, his refusal to be complacent or satisfied.”

The same could be said of Manning, who threw for a career-high 55 touchdowns and an NFL record 5,477 yards in the regular season. Manning, who sat out the 2011 season after spinal fusion surgery, has not missed a game in two seasons, since being released from the Colts and signing with the Broncos.

The Broncos have not been to the Super Bowl since Elway led them to back-to-back titles in the 1997 and ’98 seasons. After earning MVP honors in a 34-19 victory over Atlanta in Super Bowl XXXIII, Elway retired. He was 38, one year older than Manning is now.

If the Broncos are able to defeat the Patriots and then win the Super Bowl, could Elway envision Manning following his lead and walking away from the game?

Manning is scheduled to have his neck examined after the playoffs. If given a clean bill of health, he is expected to return for a 17th season. No one believes he is ready to cede the stage to the likes of Wilson and Kaepernick, but Manning’s recent admission that “the light is at the end of the tunnel for me, no question” has given fans pause.

Elway did not sound concerned, though he conceded, “That sun is starting to set.”